Eight Petals
by piki-piki angel
Summary: Most of Naruto's batch are married. Offsprings of NaruHina, SasuSaku, and ShikaIno r on the same team. Uzumaki struggles to defeat Uchiha while having the pressure of being the Hyuuga's next heiress. She accidentally reveals to Nara her feelings for Uchih
1. Team 7

**AN:** Heya! I hope you'll enjoy the fic! I have been doing this during my spare time!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto and I never did! laughs

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**Chapter One: Team 7**

Sasuke threw the shuriken with his swift hands. With all his speed, the blue haired boy Sasuke attacked bent down to evaded it and placed his weight on his toes to get energy and then jumped high and countered another shuriken to Sasuke. Sasuke backed a step and raised his left hand to avoid the shuriken directed to his left.

Sasuke and the little boy looked at each other with determination in the boy's clear green eyes while catching his breath. Sasuke gave him a gentle smile and walked to the boy. He placed his right hand above his hair and messed it up as if to say he did a great job.

"Ack! Dad! Stop it!" The boy said while laughing.

"Sasuichi, you can do better than that!" Sasuke said.

The boy, Sasuichi looked up at his father, with respect in his clear green eyes and smiled back.

Sasuichi was as good looking as his dad. From what other people saw, he got his looks from his father, the hair and the facial structure and his eyes from his mother. His characteristics, however, seems to be just like Hatake Kakashi, Sasuke's former teacher and a little bit of his dad's traits, specially when it comes to fighting.

He was a bright student who lived in Konoha with his parents. He was sometimes serious and no one has ever seen him be so loud. He is a very determined person, as his parents knew, and the people around them. He was on the average height, quite cute and most of all, his charm is irresistible. The way he speaks… with respect to the elders and a gentleman to the girls… a 'serious-if-serious' kind of person but a joker among friends. He was like a perfect kid.

Though it may seem like it, about Uchiha Sasuichi being perfect, it was nothing but a big joke to his parents and close friends. They only saw him as he is, especially his father who was once like him when he was about his age, too.

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"Chidori? Master Chidori?" The woman with a brown shoulder length hair called at the girl who was sleeping soundly under the blanket.

She waited for about a minute for a response from the foolish girl she was waking up.

'_It's no use…_' she said with a sigh.

This has always been her daily problem. It was like the negative infinity and the positive infinity in Trigonometry. And everyday, she uses the same and the same tactics to make her get up from her bed.

"There's ramen outside your room…" The woman whispered. That was her only weapon. The Ramen his father always ate. Any minute now, she assumed, the girl would be looking at her with hunger on her eyes and walk to the dining room.

And at last, Chidori finally opened her eyes under the blanket and slowly pushed the blanket off her face.

The woman grinned and placed her hands on her waist.

"Don't provoke me, Miyuki. It's not fair!" Chidori said with a gentle and loud voice.

Chidori, like her mom, is gentle-voiced and overly shy. Everyone knew, and it was so obvious, that she got that trait from her mom.

At first glance, people would usually think she's a very soft and quiet person. Her white pearl-like eyes were such a beauty and her short layered and shoulder-length hair suited her because it emphasized her beautiful eyes. Little did they know that she, like her father, was a protective person and a very determined ninja. She also has a short temper.

Her father almost died out of laughter when he heard that someone told him:"It may not seem like it, but your daughter is a little bit popular among the boys of Konoha." She tends to be mad at boys easily but always friendly at girls, which was a big disappointment to the boys who liked her.

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"Thank you for the food!" Sasuichi said as he rose up from the dining table after eating breakfast.

"Take care, Sasuichi!" Sakura said and gave her son a peck on the cheek.

Sasuichi closed his eyes and had no other choice but to accept his mother's kiss. He felt that for his age, it was a really weird thing for a mother to do that to her son. And as soon as Sakura was finished torturing him, he opened his eyes and gave a forced smile.

"Mom, stop doing that!" He said with a playful voice.

"Sasu, you're gonna be late." Sasuke said with a gentle and small smile which seemed like he didn't want to show it anyway.

"Oh, right. I'll be going now! Ja!" He cheerfully bade goodbye with his hand slightly raised, kind of saying good bye and grabbed his bag.

"Take care!" Sakura said again and waved goodbye to the boy.

Sasuichi stepped out of the house with his hand horizontally erect just above his eyebrows to block the sun from blinding him. He was feeling good that day because that day… that day was his firs mission. His first real mission!

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"Good morning, everyone!" Chidori greeted to her parents on the dining table, right after eating their breakfast.

"Baka, you say good morning the first time you see us in the morning, not after you eat your ramen!" Naruto lectured to his blue-haired daughter.

"But… Dad-" Chidori tried to explain.

"No chocolates for you when you get back." Naruto teased with a grin and his arms crossed.

Chidori's face was inexpressible. Chocolate was one of her 'stress-freeing-food' and it was also one of her favorite luxuries.

"W-what? Mom!" she said as she turned to Hinata who was walking to them to deliver Naruto's second batch of his favorite ramen but she only replied a sweet smile as she sat down and placed the bowl in front of Naruto.

"Oka-san!" Chidori begged.

"Chidori-chan, aren't you late already?" Hinata said with still a sweet smile. The smile that made Naruto fall for her.

Chidori's jaw dropped.

"Eew, Chidori! Don't do that!" Naruto said out loud.

As soon as Chidori got back to her senses….

"Oh, shoot!" Chidori said and ran to her room which has not been cleaned for about a week now, and after a few minutes, came back with a big bag and sweating.

"Take care, Chidori! Remember not to be stubborn and kick Uchiha's butt!" Naruto reminded as he watched her run to them.

"And be less like your father." Hinata said with a giggle and hugged her daughter.

"Am not, bye!" Chidori said and ran out to the door.

After passing the door, she again turned to it to close the door and then resumed running. She was already practicing a song because their agreement was to sing a song whenever someone's late. As she was running, she bumped in to someone she least expected.

"S-Sasuichi!" She said. "I can't believe you, you're late again!" She added and grab hold Uchiha's hand and dragged him towards the way to their meeting place.

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At the meeting place, at the academy entrance, a man with a spiky hair and a grin as 'grinful' as his father's, was standing with a thin blonde boy and had his ears pierced with earrings on both sides.

"Konohamaru-sensei!" Chidori greeted the man far from them while running to him.

Konohamaru looked at the two run towards them. When they got there, Chidori's kness slightly bent and tried to catch her breath.

"Baka! You two are late!" The blonde said.

"Gomen, Shino-kun. My father and I trained a little bit this-" Sasuichi didn't get to finish.

"You do training for breakfast? My father stares blankly at the sky every morning before going to work. Doesn't the Uchiha clan know anything other than training?" Shino interfered.

"Skinny." Chidori teased but her voice was more of whispering.

"Mou, yamette! You were late already and now you act as if you're all small kids!" Konohamaru said.

The three remained silent and stared at Konohamaru, with a little logic on their faces.

"Wow." Chidori said with a silly look on her face. "You're serious today…. Were you called by the officials again?"

Konohamaru's face slightly blushed and tried to hide the 'how-did-you-know?' expression to his students. He coughed as to change the topic.

"Anyway…" He began. "Up the mountains, villagers were robbed by unknown people. Some say they're merchants and some say they're just monkeys. At first, people would just shrug it off but slowly, they began to realize that the products and profits were crashing down. This is a serious matter." Konohamaru explained.

The three looked at each other with only one emotion. Excitement.

But Chidori couldn't hide the fact that she was nervous. She wanted her moves and her mission to be flawless. At that moment, she felt her heart beat faster than the normal. She felt as if she cannot wait to be perfect. She wanted to be strong. Because of nervousness, she felt her stomach get weightless and she could feel her white face go pale.

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They were walking endlessly since the sun was up. But finally, they arrived at the village they were going to protect when the moon was about to shine and their feet swelling from their sandals and they are sweaty as well as tired. By the end of the day, they considered what they've been through as their very first trial. They were setting down at their own rooms until they heard a crash.

Konohamaru rose up from the chair as soon as he heard the crash and ran out of the old inn. He looked everywhere, at all directions under the shiny moon. He kept on checking on all directions but only saw nothing.

The three followed Konohamaru out of the inn and didn't see anything as well.

"What was that?" Chidori asked her teacher.

"I don't know." Konohamaru replied.

Suddenly, men wearing masks and as unidentified as the shadows appeared out of the trees with very fast and flexible movements. Konohamaru and his students became alert and conditioned their selves to fight, even if they were tired.

Only three seconds after the masked men appeared out of the trees, Konohamaru, Sasuichi, Chidori and Shino found their selves looking at those men.

"A-Anbus?" Chidori said with disbelief.

"No way!" Shino said.

_Anbus… how do I defeat anbus? Should I use 'it' now? _Sasuichi asked his self.

The 'Anbus' didn't say anything but they stood in front of them but not in a fighting stance. The two sides waited for an attack or a word.

Konohamaru heard another crash, but this time, inside the store house they were protecting and investigating. With Konohamaru's fast thinking, he immediately used a technique known as Kagebunshin technique.

"Kagebunshin technique!" Konohamaru shouted after his hands did forms.

After saying the technique, a clone of Konohamaru appeared. This time, there were two Konohamarus, but the clone didn't stay there. Instead, it jumped to the store house to find out what was the crash all about.

"What are you doing here?" Konohamaru asked the 'Anbu' in front of him.

The Anbu didn't say a word. Right before Konohamaru could ask another question, the Anbus fled away.

"Stop!" Sasuichi said and ran to the Anbus.

"Sasuichi!" Chidori shouted and ran after Sasuichi and the anbus.

"Oi! You two! Stop! Don't go!" Konohamaru ordered but the two didn't stop.

"Baka." Shino whispered to his self because of the foolishness his two team mates did.

Soon, the Konohamaru bunshin came back.

"What happened?" Konohamaru asked the bunshin.

"The rice was all gone. The windows were broken too." The bunshin replied. "What happened here?" He asked next.

"Long story. Listen, stay here with Shino. I'll go look for the two… and Shino…"

Konohamaru bent down to face Shino who was looking up and looked at the little boy's shiny dark brown eyes.

"I trust you. Whatever happens while I'm gone, my bunshin is here to help. Please take care of the villagers." Konohamaru said.

Shino didn't say a word but he nodded and his teacher smiled at him. A smile that wanted to say 'What are you worried for? HELLO! It's me! Shino! I'm so strong!'

"Take care." Konohamaru said and then ran to the woods where his two students ran to.

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**AN**: My back hurts already. Hehehe… hope you'll enjoy it and if you could, please drop a review! Thanks a lot for reading! v


	2. I hate you more!

**AN**: Hey, ho! Sorry it took me long! Please enjoy! -v

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**Chapter two: I hate you more!**

Chidori ran with all her speed, following Sasuichi to retrieve him. He was running so fast which made her think she may not be able to catch up with her team mate and get him back. But remembering the stories his father told her, she didn't want to give up.

Suddenly, from afar, Chidori saw Sasuichi stop. Eager to catch the chance, she ran to him, involuntarily faster and finally stood closely behind her team mate.

"Sasuichi…!" Chidori said, slightly catching up her breath but retained her normal breathing only a few seconds after.

Sasuichi was only standing before her. He did not say a word nor turned to look at the team mate. He just stood there stiffly and boldly. Before Chidori could step further, Sasuichi slaightly raised his arm so to block Chidori to go further.

"This is my game." Sasuichi said, with thirst for battle in his voice.

"H-Huh?" Chidori blankly uttered.

Her eyes moved to the left view, and she was surprised and let out a quiet gasp as her upper body slightly leaned back. Her body felt light as she felt scared. Sasuichi just told her not to meddle with the anbus and his fight. There were two of the anbus. She's not even sure if they were real anbus.

She felt her self tremble in fear but tried to hide it from the enemy and his team mate.

"B-But, Sasuichi…! They're anb-"

"Do you think Anbus are pride less enough to steal?" Sasuichi told Chidori.

"And even if they ARE real Anbus, with their acts, they shouldn't be considered as Anbus anymore." Sasuichi explained, and the explanation came from his heart.

Analyzing what Sasuichi said, her eyebrows met, thinking if she should let him do the job alone as he requested. And, if they're really Anbus, why would they steal? What's their motivation? If she lets Sasuichi fight, both of them will get into trouble because running after the criminals wasn't an order to them in the first place.

Coming back to her senses, she found Sasuichi in his fighting stance and ready to attack. His right hand was ready inside his Kunai pouch and his left fist was closed and was positioned in front of him as is to warn the opponents.

By a blink of an eye, Sasuichi quickly ran to the opponents and quickly slid out his sharp Kunai and held it on his right hand as he began to attack.

Before he could get to the opponents, about three feet away from them, he jumped so high that he almost reached the end of the tree and threw the Kunai directly to the opponent by the most powerful throw he could exert.

Unfortunately, as the opponent was also quick, the Kunai that Sasuichi threw missed.

Just nanoseconds after the anbu evaded the Kunai, Sasuichi landed back down to his feet. He felt his weight go down to his feet with the force from his landing. Just then, the anbu caught the Kunai he threw and then ran to Sasuichi. He threw his hand holding the Kunai horizontally to hurt Sasuichi but Sasuichi bent back and evaded the Kunai only by an inch.

"Look out!" He heard Chidori shriek from behind him. He turned back to look behind him and was surprised that the Anbu was going to attack him unknowingly.

Before the Anbu could even move his hand to throw Sasuichi a heavy punch, Chidori ran to Sasuichi and blocked the punch using her forearms crossed together.

She felt the pain run through her forearms. It felt really painful and she could even feel it palpitate. Chidori closed her right eye tightly as to endure the pain while she left the left one open to see the precautions. She rested her forearms down because she felt like she couldn't endure it anymore and stepped back a little to let her body land on Sasuichi's back.

Sasuichi looked at his team mate.

"Baka, why did you fight!" Sasuichi said angrily.

"I helped you, you sleepy head! You should be thankful for that." Chidori screamed at Sasuichi, her forearms still hurting.

"I didn't ask for it in the first place!"

"Oh, yeah! Well you should've been dead by now if only I didn't help you!"

"You're so funny." The Anbu that attacked Sasuichi finally spoke, underneath his mask.

The two of them threw sharp looks at the anbu. Both of them hated the fact that a stinky Anbu was laughing at them, especially Chidori who has such a temper. It was such a humiliation for them.

Before Chidori could even look back to her opponent, she saw her opponent's hand attack her. It didn't actually hit her, as she remembered. But, she was sent flying away and landed on the ground.

"Chidori!" Sasuichi called when he saw her.

Sasuichi have always thought that mission comes first before other personal matters. That's why he didn't let his temper get on his way with the mission.

Before running to his injured comrade, the Anbu again tried to attack him without his knowledge. Fortunately, Sasuichi looked behind him and saw the opponent about to hit him.

'Shoot!' He thought.

He immediately pushed the opponent's hand away to the other direction. Before the opponent could even get the chance to hurt him, he quickly took out his Kunai and managed to injure the Anbu on his hand which felt really deep.

His opponent tried to endure the pain of his bleeding wrist but his knees felt weak and he slowly began to fall. When Sasuichi took away his eyes from the anbu in pain, he chanced to see the other opponent run to him.

With Sasuichi's quick thinking, he held the opponent's wrist and tried to push it to other direction as what he attempted to do earlier. Unfortunately, the Kunai reached his upper forearm and gave him a deep cut.

He was fighting with all his strength when suddenly, he felt a strong punch land on his stomach which made him open his mouth and bleed.

His eyes were slowly shutting because of the impact that the punch gave him. But before he closed his eyes, he made sure he looked at the opponent, but he still tried to fight back but he finally collapsed.

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Sasuichi opened his eyes slowly. Eyes half opened, he saw the ceiling and the lantern ontop of him. As if it was automatic to him, he sat up immediately, thinking he was still in a battle and looked for the opponent and let his blanket slide down to his lap.

He looked around to see where he was. He felt the soft bed he sat on when they got to the inn and it got to him. He was in his room. He placed his hand on his head and took a deep breath.

He heard the sliding door open with a mix of loud footsteps. It was Chidori and Shino. Chidori ran to him first and Shino bothered to close the door behind him.

"Baka, baka, baka, baka!" Chidori yelled as soon as he reached Sasuichi.

Sasuichi looked at Chidori's face, radiantly white but he noticed the small band aids on her face and the bandages on her fully beaten up body.

"Chidori." Sasuichi said with a small escaped laugh.

"I hate you even more!" Chidori yelled. "Because of you and you being asleep, only I was scolded by Konohamaru-sensei! I hate you!"

Sasuichi said nothing but a smile at her. He couldn't even look at her eyes. He thought he disappointed his team mate.

He knew she was badly injured because of him, though his teacher and his friend told her to stop.

"Gomen, gomen!" He said giggling, hiding his thoughts.

"How are you feeling?" Shino asked as he placed his hand to his small pocket stitched on his green pants.

"Uh… you know. Anyway, how did we get here?"

"Konohamaru-sensei ran after you when you went after the 'Anbus'. You were so miserable when Konohamaru-sensei saw you. But Chidori here was fighting alone. Well, she was being defeated… but, hey, she took a shot!" Shino teased.

"Shut up!" Chidori yelled threw a slight jab at Shino.

Suddenly, Shino laughed out loud.

Cihdori and Sasuichi looked at him laugh his self out. Though he looked really stupid, they still wanted to be sure what he was laughing at.

"Shino. What's so funny?" Sasuichi asked, weirded out.

Shino slowly calmed down.

"Hey, you know what, Sasuichi, while you were sleeping…" Shino again snickered but tried to continue anyway. "Y-You… were calling out Chidori's name!"

Chidori's face went red. Her jaw dropped and looked for something to say back.

"W-Was I? No way!" Sasuichi said in disbelief.

"Yes way!" Shino said and laughed again.

"W-What's so bad about that!" Chidori asked, still burning red and avoided to look at neither of them.

"Why are you blushing?" Shino asked back.

"D-Don't blame me! Blame my genes!"

"Okay, okay! Anyway, we'll be at the restaurant if you need us. We shouldn't be disturbing you anyway." Shino said.

Chidori ran to the door first, without even saying goodbye. Shino was still smiling as he followed Chidori outside the door.

"By the way…" Shino said before closing the door behind him. "Konohamaru-sensei told me he was proud of the two of you." And he closed the door.

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Until they finish their lunch, Chidori was still thinking why Sasuichi didn't go to the restaurant to eat with them. He hasn't eaten breakfast or lunch for that day and she was worried about him. There was no valid reason for him anyway to skip lunch. So, she ordered a bento special to give to Sasuichi.

She went to Sasuichi's room and saw Sasuichi sitting from his bed, his clothes changed and just staring blankly at the window. He didn't even hear the door open.

"Hey…" Chidori said, wanting to get Sasuichi back to his senses.

Sasuichi looked at her with a surprised look. He was totally thinking deep and for his age, it was a very mature thing to do.

"Chidori, do you need something?" He said in a friendly way but not smiling.

"Um.." She stared at the floor, playing with her fingers involuntarily while still holding the bento box. "I was wondering why you didn't go out to eat lunch. So, I brought you your lunch." She explained.

Sasuichi stood up from his bed.

"You shouldn't have, Chidori!" He said shyly while smiling and his hand scratching his head as he walked to her.

"Shino was also worried." Chidori said as he handed out the bento to him.

Sasuichi invited Chidori to have lunch with him again or at least a dessert. At first, Chidori didn't want to but Sasuichi was too pushy. They went down to the restaurant again and ate Sasuichi's lunch while Chidori ate her dessert.

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Chidori knocked on the door of their house and waited a while for the door to open for her to get in. The one who opened the door was her mother, Hyuuga Hinata.

"Welcome back, Chii-chan!" Hinata said with a motherly smile on her face.

"Hey, mom." Chidori weakly said and she went in.

Hinata just looked at Chidori take off her shoe worriedly.

"A-Are you okay, Chii-chan?" Hinata finally asked.

"Just tired mom, but I'm fine!" Chidori said with a forced cheerful voice and smile.

Right after Chidori took her hot bath, she went to her room to read a book quietly. Suddenly, someone knocked on her door.

"Yes?" Chidori said loudly, still focusing on the book she was reading.

"Cihdori-chan" A voice which seemed like her mom's called. "Shino and Sasuichi are here. They were asking if you would like to come with them to the festival."

Chidori's attention suddenly switched to the door and stared at it. She could imagine her mom standing outside the room and talking to her. She was thinking of the festival when she was taking a bath. And now, her two friends are asking her out to the festival.

"Y-Yes, mom! Please tell them I'm changing!" Chidori said.

She immediately stood up and ran to her closet frantically scavenged it. She didn't mind her other clothes being messy anymore, instead, she focused on what she was looking for.

When she finally saw the fine blue cloth she was looking for, she pulled it out and looked at the long beautiful kimono with Sakura petals printed down the skirt part of the kimono with a matching pink obi that was neatly folded in her closet. The kimono was so beautiful and it would even look prettier if she wore it on. The kimono was bought by her parents, and this is going to be the first time she was going to wear that.

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**AN**: Hey! Thanks for reading eight petals! Please do continue reading! The next chapter will be about the festivals. Festivals can be SO romantic, that's why I chose it for the next setting! And, someone requested for Neji and Tenten's daughter. blushes Oh, Neji… nyahahah… Till next time! Thanks so much again!


	3. Sakura Festival!

**AN**: Hah! I updated fast, didn't I:) never mind… so, um… note!

**DISCALIMER**: I do not own Naruto, but I wish I do! (smiles) And the character Hyuuga Mishito is not my original. It was presented by loveme731

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**Chapter three: Sakura Festival**

She ecstatically wore her blue and sakura printed kimono on. It looked really good on her well proportioned body. Hinata helped her daughter with the pink obi she gave her daughter.

When the Kimono and the obi was fully wore, Hinata looked very happy, Chidori could tell. Whenever her mother was happy, she couldn't help but feel happy, too and she referred to that as a 'Daughter Feeling'. Hinata felt like her daughter was going to be married that day as she looked pretty on that Kimono.

"Thanks, mom!" Chidori said.

Hinata smiled softly and started to arrange her hair.

"It's nothing." Hinata said as she skillfully pulled Chidori's hair up and tied a matching blue ribbon.

As soon as they were finished, they walked out of the room. Chidori walked small steps as it was a little bit hard to walk in the kimono. But, Chidori made sure that she doesn't ruin it.

Hinata and Chidori walked to the living room. When they got there, they saw Naruto laughing and grinning while the two boys were looking at him with forced smiles and a sweat drop.

"H-H-Hey!" Chidori called, wanting the two boys to notice her and her Kimono.

Hinata looked at Chidori surprised. She was familiar with that mannerism.

When the three heard her call, they looked at her. The two boys' mouths were opened. They couldn't believe that Chidori also is a feminine. They've never seen her wear a Kimono before.

Chidori blushed as the two stared at her and looked down, regretting what she did and was so embarrassed. When her father saw this, he coughed and stood up.

"Hey, stop staring!" Naruto joked.

"D-Dad!" Chidori yelled.

"I was just kidding! Anyway, be sure to take care of yourselves and I don't want you guys to be home too late, you got that?" Naruto said, making sure that everyone listened.

The two boys nodded as Chidori said nothing.

"Well, we're going now!" Chidori finally said after the embarrassing reminder his father said.

She grabbed Sasuichi and Shino's hand and tried to drag them out of the house and away to Naruto.

When they closed the sliding door, Hinata suddenly remembered something.

"Chii-chan!" Hinata softly but loudly said. "Your Uncle and your cousin are coming here today and I think they'll go to the festival, too!"

Naruto and Hinata waited for a reply for about 5 seconds, but they didn't hear a response.

"I don't think she heard that." Naruto said out of the blue.

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There were lots of people coming out of their houses and Chidori was surprised there were actually that number of people that lived just near their home. The road was really noisy. She could hear girls giggling and boys telling jokes. She could even see men busy with their booths that they're going to bring with them to the festival. That night was the Sakura festival.

When they got to the entrance of the venue, they saw even more people there. But the road is big and not like the road at their place. There were little kids in their little kimonos running around. Just like Chidori when she attented the Sakura festival when she was small.

When they got to the entrance, interesting booths welcomed them which made the three of them want to try everything all at once.

They first tried the traditional fish catching. The price was cheap so they took many paper nets. But, everytime they would have the fish on the ring and they have to bring it up, the net just rips. But in the end, Chidori caught a fish from her 8th try and placed the fish inside the plastic bag with water in it.

Next, they visited the mask booth. There were lots of interesting masks, only the two boys weren't interested.

Then, they went to the fortune telling booth. There was a kid with a shiny blue hair managing the booth.

"Hey!" Chidori called.

"Hello, welcome! Would you like to get a fortune stick?" The boy about their age smiled at them.

"Yes, please!" Chidori cheerfully said.

He went to the table that was behind him and brought the small wooden container along with him.

"Hey, are you the only one taking care of this booth? Don't you think you're too young?" Chidori asked as she picked a stick out of the container.

"I'm just a substitute." The boy replied and gave the container to Shino and Sasuichi so that they could pick one too.

"Here's mine." Chidori presented the stick to the boy.

"Here's ours, too." Sasuichi said, handing out the sticks he and Shino picked out.

The blue-haired boy looked at the stick and examined it. After a short while, he went to the shelf with papers on each block and pulled out different papers from different blocks.

He handed out the papers that matched their sticks.

They read their fortunes silently.

"Hey, my fortune says I'll get to hear monkeys talk today. That's a little bit odd!" Chidori said.

"Mine says I'll be running out of money. I hope it doesn't come true!" Shino said with black shadows on his forehead and becoming pale.

While the two was discussing about their fortunes, Sasuichi immediately placed the paper in his pocket.

"Hey, hey, hey! Tell us your fortune, first!" Chidori noticed.

"I don't believe in this stuff." Sasuichi said, looking down, letting his hair cover his face.

"Then, why are you blushing?" Shino teased.

"It's nothing."

"I don't think so!" Shino said as he grabbed Sasuichi and inserted his hand in his pocket.

"H-Hey! What are you doing! I said it's nothing!" Sasuichi exclaimed while pushing Shino away from him.

Shino finally got the paper and read it with his hands fully stretched up so that Sasuichi won't be able to reach it from him.

"Receive a maiden kiss from a maiden's lips!" Shino read out loud as he laughed madly along with Chidori.

Shino and Chidori just couldn't help it. They never heard the guy tell stories about a girl he likes or someone who caught his eyes. Never! And just the thought of him blushing over a girl is unbelievable.

Sasuichi just looked away from them but he was still blushing.

"Who's gonna be the lucky girl?" Chidori teased and can't even breathe normally.

Shino suddenly laughed harder because deep down, he was thinking that the girl Sasuichi was going to kiss is Chidori. He couldn't tell it because Chidori and Sasuichi might act violently on him.

After the long laugh, the three of them went to the shabu shabu restaurant. The place was filled with the 'shabu shabu aroma' which smelled tasty.

After they ate, they went out of the restaurant full and happy and ready to take on the rides.

While they were walking, Shino's eyes wandered everywhere. He saw many people than before. They were all having fun. When his eyes wandered to the dark side, he saw someone, unclear as a shadow, sitting on the ground.

"Hey, look at that." Shino told his friends.

Sasuichi and Chidori looked at the direction Shino pointed out and also saw the person sitting on the ground. The person was looking down and the person's hair was covering the face. From the looks of 'its' hair, the person might've been a girl.

Worried, the three went to the person to check out if the person is alright.

"Excuse me?" Chidori said, but no response.

"Are you alright?" Shino asked.

"Hey, wake up." Sasuichi said.

The person slightly lifted his head up and seemed like he wanted to see who it was talking to him… or her.

Chidori stared at the person, wondering. Wondering if she knew the person.

And finally, it got to her.

"M-Mitoshi!" Chidori exclaimed and she was so surprised.

The person immediately looked up the moment Chidori exclaimed. The person was a girl. Her eyes were also pearl colored as Chidori.

When she saw Chidori, she almost cried. Her face was becoming red because she was trying not to cry but couldn't stop herself.

"Oh, Chidori! I've been looking all over for you! Thank God you're finally here!" Mitoshi said.

"W-What are you doing here? Have you eaten dinner?" Shino asked worriedly.

"N-Not yet and I am STARVING!" She said out loud and looked at Shino with puppy-dog eyes.

Shino had no choice. He treated Mitoshi to the Ramen house nearest to them. Mitoshi felt better as the Ramen sank down to her stomach.

"Thank you for the food!" Mitoshi said, looking at Shino.

"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY THAT, BAKA! I lost my money! The fortune telling paper was such a bad luck!" Shino screamed on top of his lungs.

After Mitoshi ate, Shino paid the bill for what she ate and walked out of the restaurant.

They were walking silently to the exit when they noticed a crowd who was cheering and seemed like having fun. Some are grown up, some are teenagers and some are just kids. And from the looks of it, for everyone to have fun with whatever they were doing, it should be intereseting.

The cousins, Chidori and Mitoshi ran to the crowd and tried to peak on the little spaces the crowd gave.

They saw black pigs running around the wide space. There are also small dividers trapping the cute fat little pigs that were running around with two people running around with them, trying to catch them.

When the tall man who was running around trying to catch the pig finally caught what he was catching, the people cheered as Chidori, Sasuichi, Shino and Mitoshi gasped with amazement.

"Hey, it looks like fun." Chidori murmured silently.

"I think so too!" Mitoshi immediately said as soon as she heard Chidori. "Would you like to try?"

Chidori stared at her cousin blankly, and then looked at her two team mates. From her facial expression, she wanted to consult her friends about the invitation. But the two boys were just staring back at her.

"Chidori! Do you want to try? I want to try!" Mitoshi exclaimed.

"Uh… I'm wearing my newest Kimono. It's kind of expensive, too." Chidori argued with her self in disguise.

"Well, I have some pants and tops here in my bag. I will let you borrow them, would you like to try?" she offered.

Chidori smiled with a naughty look on her face.

"Why not?"

They looked for the registration booth and saw it when they reached the opposite side of the crowd. There was an old man counting money and taking care of the registration booth.

"Uhm… excuse me." Chidori called the man.

The old man took away his sight from the money and locked it on the blue-haired girl. He looked steadily at her pearl eyes.

"Yes, little girl?" The old man said.

"We were wondering if we could try that…. Game?" Chidori asked, failing to say what the game was.

"Sure. Look for a partner and pay me after the game." He instructed.

They all looked at each other. Well, there were Chidori, Sasuichi, Shino and Mitoshi. Now, if they could just decide.

"I know" Shino said. "Let's do the palm game."

"Palm game?" Sasuichi innocently asked.

"Yah. We'll stretch our hands down and it will be stiff horizontally. First, it will be on the opposite side of the palm. On the count of three, we'll throw our hands in the air and you have to decide which side of your hand you will throw back down. Either the palm or the other side." Shino explained.

And so, they formed a circle and stretched their hands down stiffly.

"One" Shino began. "Two" he paused for a while.

"Three!"

After the count of three, everyone threw their hand in the air and landed it back in unison.

Chidori and Sasuichi both got the palm side while Shino and Mitoshi on the opposite side of the palm.

Sausichi looked up from looking at their hands.

"What now?" He asked.

"Well, it basically means you and Chidori are partners and Mitoshi and I will be team mates." Shino explained.

"It sounds fair to me." Mitoshi announced.

And it was settled. They walked to the registration booth and registered the old man.

After Chidori changed her clothes, she walked to her friends who were standing beside the old man.

"Okay. Now you're complete." He said. "The rules. Number one, no using of skills. And number two, no killing of pigs. Got that?" Explained the old man.

They nodded and didn't take away their stare at the old man.

Then, they heard the crowd cheer harder from the other side.

"Well, it's your turn now." The old man said and told them to go straight to the end of the room that he pointed.

It was dark inside the room they walked to. But at the end of it was glowing light. When they got at the end of the tunnel, they were surprised to see the crowd cheering at them, waving their hands and the pigs were running around already.

The host, who was inside the small divider with them, held his mike and spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He exclaimed. "Tonight, let us welcome Uzumaki Chidori, Uchiha Sasuichi, Nara Shino and Hyuuga Mitoshi!"

The crowd cheered harder and screamed harder after they have been introduced.

Chidori blushed out of embarrassment. All of those people were looking at her, she thought.

"On the count of three, you may start running after the pigs! One! Two!"

They all prepared and were waiting to hear the next number.

"Three!" The host with shining a suit exclaimed.

By the third count, the four of them ran after the two black pigs that were madly running around the wide open space. It was hard to catch them as they were small and wild.

Sasuichi ran to the black pig with a curly tail. He didn't notice he was running around on a circular motion and looked really stupid. Behind him was Chidori who was trying to catch the pig, too.

While they were running, the black pig with a pink snout looked behind them and snickered. This made Sasuichi, who was known to be patient and relaxed, got mad and dash to the pig faster.

"H-Hey! You won't be able to catch it by just running! You need a strategy! Jump when you corner him! Jump when you corner him!" Chidori yelled, assuming that Sasuichi heard what she said.

But he didn't.

Sasuichi kept on running and suddenly, the pig was trapped on the corner, nowhere else to run to.

The pig looked at Sasuichi's burning eyes that was going closer and closer to him, his hands slightly cupped in front of the pig.

"I got ya!" He said silently.

The pig sweated so hard. His arms were stretched to the stiff wall behind him.

As Sasuichi was slowly catching the pig…

Chidori jumped from behind Sasuichi.

"S-Sasui-…!" she tried to warn the boy in front of her.

Sasuichi looked behind him when he heard her call. And he was surprised when he looked up because Chidori was so close… no, too close already.

His mouth opened wide, wanting to scream at her, yell at her. But he missed the chance because Chidori's mouth covered his.

People suddenly went down and all of them looked at the two, still in that position, even their opponent, Mitoshi and Shino, were staring and their jaw dropped.

After the 'shock', everyone howled and teased them which led the both of them to blush really hard and looked like a strawberry.

**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

AN: Ohohohoho… is it great? What do you think? Please review! Thanks for reading! I appreciate it a lot! -winks- And again, the character Hyuuga Mitoshi was from loveme731! Thanks again, girl!


	4. A Secret!

Piki-piki angel: Hey! Sorry it took me a long time! I was really busy with stuff… but I read your reviews every time I get them, I just don't have the time to type anymore, that's all! Thanks very much!

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**Chapter two: A Secret!**

All Sasuichi can see now was a blinding light. All he could hear were the cheers, the laughter, the gasps, and the whisperings. He heard them all. He couldn't move. It was as if his body has been chained tightly.

On the other hand, Chidori couldn't see anything, but the ground. Her head was spinning. It was as if she spun a hundred times, nonstop. She couldn't hear a thing. She couldn't hear the screams and the gasps.

Shino and Mitoshi were shocked. Their jaws were dropped and their eyes widened, locking it on the two who still didn't move. Sasuichi was lying flat on the ground while Chidori was on top of him and their lips were still touching. The pig, on the other hand, was staring at them, too, sweating, shocked, and his heart was pounding.

After the 20-second event, which seemed like an eternity for the two, Chidori finally got a hold of herself and pushed herself up, pushing Sasuichi on the dense ground. Chidori's face looked painful. She was gasping for air, sweating coldly, and her heart was pounding as well. Sasuichi, too, probably felt the same as her. Only HIS heart was pounding three times faster.

"This pig is sick!" Chidori said with vengeance as she stood up and pointed her finger at the pig.

"That's it!" Sasuichi went back to his feet and grabbed the small, black fat pig by its stomach. "I've had enough! This pig has got to die!"

Chidori became worried for the pig and decided to follow them when Sasuichi jumped out of the small bamboo fences with the poor pig clinging on his hand.

Following Sasuichi and the black pig, Chidori, Shino, and Mitoshi landed on a dark and cold cliff above the raging ocean. They could clearly hear the waves strongly hit the rocks just below them.

Sasuichi mercilessly stretched his right hand forward, holding the pig by its neck.

"You're such a bad luck!" Sasuichi shouted.

The pig looked down. When he saw the ocean and the spiky rocks, he became more nervous. He figured that maybe Sasuichi is going to throw there, which seemed to be the situation. The pig closed his eyes, hoping that it wouldn't hurt.

"Good bye, piggie!" Sasuichi shouted and was about to throw the pig, but Chidori held his forearm very tight.

"What are you trying to do!" Chidori angrily asked.

"He brought me bad luck! If you don't want me to throw him to the ocean, I can always eat this!" Sasuichi replied.

"Are you insane! This pig isn't responsible for what happened!"

The pig slowly opened its eyes to find that he was still being held by Sasuichi.

"Besides, you call what happened a bad luck! Well, sorry if I wasn't a good kisser!" Chidori yelled back at the boy and grabbed the pig.

She ran away from the crowd by the cliff, wanting to go home with the pig on her hand. It was dark but she didn't care. She didn't even look at where she was running at, even if her Kimono and her slippers make it harder for her to fun. It doesn't matter anyway, because tears were falling down from her eyes.

**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

The next day, Sasuichi woke up on his bed, still remembering the pig from last night. That night before he went to sleep, all he thought about was the pig and Chidori. He was wondering if Chidori was mad at him for saying those stuff. He really didn't mean those things that Chidori said, maybe she just got it all wrong.

His anger for the pig became stronger.

He went down the stairs and walked to the kitchen were he figured that's where the smell of noodles came from. Probably, his mother was cooking noodles.

When he arrived by the door of their kitchen, he felt the hot temperature from his mother's cooking. But still, the smell was delicious.

He sat at the chair near the table and threw his head to the table. Sakura turned back and looked at the boy, hearing the thud his head made.

"Sasuichi, what's the matter?" She asked, looking at the boy who was resting his head on the table.

"Mom," Sasuichi said, his head was still resting on the table. "Can I go for a walk after breakfast?"

"Um… sure thing. Just be sure you'd be back by lunch." Sakura reassured.

"Thank you."

An hour later, after eating his mother's noodles, Sasuichi went out of their house and walked like he was up all night. He was looking down, thinking about what happened last night.

_Maybe I should apologize. But, it's not my fault anyway that she assumed that way! It's all because of that stupid pig! If ever I see the pig again, I'll-_

From where Sasuichi was looking, he saw a familiar figure of a shadow. He slowly raised his head up only to see that Chidori was with the pig with a collar around its neck and a yellow lace tied on it, extending it to Chidori's hand.

Sasuichi couldn't believe everything that he just saw. How could she possibly be nice to the pig even if she knows that Sasuichi hated him so much?

She looked at Chidori but she only looked at the other direction, opposite to him, with a snobby face.

As much as Sasuichi wanted to run away and snob them back, he still walked towards the black pig and its owner and talk her.

"What are you doing!" Sasuichi furiously asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Chidori calmly replied to him, still looking at an opposite direction.

"It looks to me that you are bringing bad luck with you!"

"Oh, shut up!" Chidori said and walked away with the pig.

Sasuichi tried to push his way through the crowd to catch up with Chidori who seemed to have an easy time running through the wild and hot crowd.

After a minute of pushing his way through the wild crowd, he decided to stop chasing Chidori in the hot and busy city. And even if he didn't have to chase her anymore and she was there, what could he have told her? He's not going to say sorry to her, anyway.

"Curse you, girls! Curse you!" Sasuichi shouted as he sat under the tree by the park.

Suddenly, a hand whacked his head with a great pressure.

"Hey!" Sasuichi angrily looked behind him and saw Mitoshi looking down at him with her hand on her waist.

"You know, if you like to impress my cousin, you should apologize to her." said Mitoshi.

"Impress? No way." Sasuichi replied and looked down on his foot.

But deep inside, the thought of apologizing to her was playing in his mind.

**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

Inside the ice cream store, Chidori sat at the table near the entrance and she was catching her breath. The pig, who was at the table, sat there and looked at his owner breathe.

"Running through this city is insane!" Chidori finally said, with only her right eye open.

"Why did you run through this city?" A voice said from behind her.

She looked behind and saw Shino standing before him with a big grin on his face.

"Um… a little bit."Chidori said.

Shino glided to the chair in front of Chidori and sat down.

"Of course that's crazy. Listen, have you heard about Sasuichi?" Shino said.

"I don't want to have anything to do with that guy!" Chidori said, closing her eyes, as if she didn't want to listen to what he was saying.

"No, no, I'm serious! He said they're going to move! To a farther city! Even HE didn't know where they would go! And the saddest part is, they won't come back for another 11 years…" Shino explained with his voice a little higher than the normal.

Chidori slowly opened her eyes and looked at Shino. She didn't want it to show, but her face looked gloomy.

"Why should I care…" Chidori said, petting the pig.

"You should care because they're going tonight!" Shino said.

Chidori looked up at Shino and looked at the wall clock behind him. It was only 12:00am.

"I don't care about him." Chidori said and stood up.

The pig jumped from the table down to the ground and followed his master who was on her way out the ice cream house. And for some reason, she was walking quite slowly.

Chidori walked to their house where his father was gardening their small garden by the gate.

Naruto looked behind him and saw Chidori who was looking sad and walking slow. Next, he shifted his eyes on the black pig following her which disturbed him ever since Chidori brought him home.

"Is there anything wrong?" Naruto asked Chidori from where he was standing.

Chidori didn't answer, but she shook her head while she was still walking slowly and looking at the ground. When she reached the door, she slid it open and walked in with the pig. She took off her sandals and placed it on the ground and then she walked in quietly.

She went directly to her room without even stopping by her mother's usual spot, the kitchen. In her room, she was lying there like a problematic father worrying about his bills. The black pig tried to cheer her up by rubbing his chubby cheeks on hers, but it didn't seem to work. She only let out a big sigh.

She was feeling really down because of what Shino said and her pig felt it. As much as he wanted to do something for Chidori, he couldn't. He would gladly pay her back by cheering her up, but it doesn't work. She was completely depressed.

She wondered why they would move and, with even a bigger question, why wouldn't Sasuichi tell her. What if he was supposed to tell her on their home last night, but they fought because of the pig and didn't get the chance to tell it to her?

With those questions on her mind, she dozed off to sleep.

**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

When Chidori woke up, it was already 6 in the afternoon. The moment she saw this, she jumped up from her bed and walked out of her room with the pig still running behind her.

She quickly ran down the stairs and slid her feet in her sandals and then ran out of the door in haste.

She was running to Sasuichi's house which was a little farther than Shino's house. After passing by a few blocks, that's when she wondered why her cousin, Mitoshi hasn't came back home. Was she with Sasuichi and Shino?

Getting lost in thought, she accidentally bumped on Shino. Good thing the pig evaded it when she fell on her butt.

"Shino!" Chidori screamed, looking up at Shino.

Shino stretched his right hand down for Chidori to reach. Chidori grabbed Shino's forearms and used it to stand up.

"Hey. Maybe you have forgotten, about Sasuichi, they're going to mo- " Shino didn't get to finish.

"I must tell him!" Chidori said, cutting off what Shino was saying.

"Huh?"

"If I don't… I might regret it forever…" Chidori whispered.

"Tell him what?" Shino curiously asked.

"I must tell him that I like him…!" Chidori said, with a few tears escaping from her eyes.

Upon hearing this, Shino's mouth curled. If he was trying not to cry, Chidori didn't care for now. She just wanted to talk to Sasuichi as of this moment.

"I w-w-was ab-bout to g-go to y-y-your house then I b-bumped into you…" Shino said, trying to hold back from bursting.

"Shino where is he?" Chiroi seriously asked.

Without saying a word, Shino ran, leaving Chidori behind. Chidori figured, maybe Shino wanted her to follow him.

They went to the park. It was 7 at that time and it was darker than before. Chidori hoped he would find Sasuichi, but he wasn't there. She ran around the park, thinking Sasuichi must have played a joke on her and hid.

"Sasuichi! Sasuichi, where are you!" Chidori furiously said and sat down at the bench.

Shino wasn't looking at Chidori.

_Maybe he's pitying me now… _Chidori told her self.

"Chidori!" A voice yelled.

Chidori looked at where it was coming from. It was Sasuichi. The pig stood up, too.

"Sasui-" Chidori was about to scream but Sasuichi was screaming something.

"Chidori, I'll save you from that evil black pig!"

"HUH!" Chidori's face grew puzzled.

Behind Sasuichi was Mitoshi, she was running behind him with a big smile on her face.

Then, Shino started laughing so hard, he almost cried.

"Where is it, where's the pig?" Sasuichi asked Chidori, looking at every direction.

"My pig is FINE!" Chidori said angrily,

Suddenly, Mitoshi joined Shino from laughing. Chidori and Sasuichi looked at them with a puzzled look on their face. They wondered to themselves why they were laughing.

"We'll confess!" Mitoshi and Shino said in unison.

"We set you up!" Shino said, laughing like there was no tomorrow, and was pointing his finger on them.

"W-W know… right, Sasuichi?" Chidori said, tapping Sasuichi.

"Now, why don't you say sorry to each other?" Mitoshi said, trying hard not to laugh.

Sasuichi looked at Chidori who was blushing.

"Look, I-I… I'm sorry." Sasuichi finally said. He wanted to say that for a long time.

Chidori was smiling and blushing, not because of what Sasuichi said, but because of what happened earlier. Sadly, she wasn't paying attention to what Sasuichi was saying.

_If you tell anyone what I told you, I'll kill you, Shino!_ She told herself, looking at Sasuichi's lips move.

**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

Piki-piki angel: I apologize again for being late! Matta ne!


	5. Jealousy?

**piki-piki angel**: hey! I'm sorry it took me a while before I could type again! It's my Christmas Vacation and I hope I could update as many chapters as I can!

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**Chapter five: Jealousy? **

Chidori slowly unbuttoned her top and pushed her skirt and her cycling shorts to the ground. Next, she took off her lingerie and threw it on the floor.She walked to the tub and went in. The hot water made her feel warm and the steam ran to her cheeks. She sighed and rested her head to the rim of the tub.

_Shino is now aware of my feeling for Sasuichi! I'm such a fool to have fallen for their trick! _She said to her self.

Feeling really embarassed because of what happened earlier, she slapped her palm to her forehead and closed her eyes.

_Now, I should explain to him and tell him that I meant nothing about the 'I-like-him' part! _

Slowly, she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling where the steam from the hot water ran to.

Tommorow... it has got to be tommorow.

After an hour inside the bathroom, Chidori walked to her room with only a robe covering her thin body. Her bed was already made for her. She assumed it must have been her mom who made her bed. Carelessly, she threw her socks on the floor and then threw her self to the bed. She bounced a few inches twice. By this time of the night, she should be thinking about her studies, her tactics, and her mistakes and failures in her every fight. But this time, she weas lost in her thought. About her 'accidental-confession'. And how was she supposed to challenge Sasuichi again without Shino sarcastically smirking?

"HOLY COW!" She involuntarily screamed hard. The startled black pig jumped from his relaxation on his bed Chidori made exclusively for him yesterday.

Many things crossed her mind, but one thought managed to slip from her head. Her duel with Sasuichi. And back to her thoughts. How was she going to challenge Sasuichi again without a stick-figured boy smirking at them?

**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

When the sun rose and rays touched Chidori's eyelids, she opened her eyes slowly to the sound of the neighbor's chicken. First thing she did was to turn her head to her right and looked for the alarm clock. It was 7:00 in the morning. It was already morning and she hasn't had a proper sleep. She threwthe soft white pillow from the side of the bed to her face and covered it hard.

"Grr!" She screamed. The pillow absorbed the intensity of her scream.

Hours lates, she found her self outside Shino's family's flower shop, just near the academy. People explored inside the shop and a boy's voice which was familiar to Chidori's ear, would welcome them and say "Good Morning!" in a half-cheerful, half-dead tone of voice. After minutes of examining the shop, Chidori finally went in.

"Hey!" A familiar voice called, not far from the entrance.

Chidori looked to her left to see if it really was 'him'. And it was! With a quiet, fair skinned boy standing next to the boy who called her, staring at Chidori. She felt her heart palpitate and felt nervous. But not nervous enough not to walk to Shino and Sasuichi.

"Hey, Shino. Hey, Sasuichi." Chidori greeted as cheerful as she can, not making any eye-contacts with Sasuichi.

Shino smirked quietly and secretly, but Chidori caught glimpse of him. She suddenly felt embarassed and angry, as well. Angry enough for a vein on her temple to pop out. Chidori raised an eyebrow and gave Shino a 'so-what?' expression. Sasuichi, who was alternately looking at the two of them, was left clueless.

"What?" Shino sarcastically asked Chidori.

"Stop it!" Chidori screamed softly, assuming only the three of them heard, and hoped Sasuichi didn't hear her.

"Hehe...I'm not doing anything!" Shino said with a big grin on his face and raised his hand on the level of his chest to Chidori.

"Of course, you're not!" Chidori said, looking at the ground and exhaled.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Shino asked.

Chidori looked up and stared at Shino's round brown eyes, which Chidori was thinking that he might have got from his father. She examined it for a while and then sighed heavily.

"Well..." she began.

"Well..?" Shino said impatiently.

Sasuichi just looked at them and didn't say a word.

"I was wondering of I could talk to you for a while..." Chidori finally said, and it took a lot of guts for her to say that. She played with her pointing fingers, poking each of the fingers' tips, just like her mother does.

"Sure." Shino replied. He turned to Sasuichi and said: "I'll be right back."

Sasuichi watched as Shino and Chidori walked towards the 'Staff only' room, where, as he knew, was empty except if Shino and Chidori would occupy it. Shino was walking with Chidori with only an inch of distance between them. Sasuichi knew he felt different at that time, but he wasn't sure what it was.

Chidori walked in the door first, then Shino followe and slowly, he closed the door behind him and faced Chidori who was again, looking at the floor.

"Well?" Shino said with his arms crossed.

"Well... about yesterday..." She finally began. "I was worried that you might think otherwise of what I said..." She said, still looking down.

"What_ did_ you say yesterday?" Shino asked.

Chidori looked up at Sihno only to see if what he said was what he meant.

_He looks serious. _She told her self.

"What?" Chidori asked.

"Huh? What?" Shino asked back.

"Huh... Wha-?... What were we talking about?" Chidori asked.

Feeling a little bit irritated, Shino raised his eyebrow and exhaled, still not smiling.

"Stop trying to change the topic." Shino on his serious voice, said.

"I'm not! Well, if you forgot about it, then, I might as well forget about it, too!" Chidori cheerfully said with a big grin shining on his face. Finally, she got to smile without a burden.

"Come to think of it... I remember something really interesting yesterday." Shino remembered.

With the big grin still locked on Chidori's face, she didn't say a word. But she felt her cold sweat drop and her heart beating faster than when she ran around the academy, hoping that what he was talking about wasn't 'that'.

Chidori inhaled and was about to say something when Shino butted in.

"You said you like Sasuichi, right?" Shino said, with a cheerful smile.

Chidori's mouth dropped and slapped her left hand on Shino's big mouth to cover it then looked around to see if there was another person except them around. She was relieved to see only the fertilizers, wrappers, rocks, and pots by the shelves.

"Shut up!" Chidori threatened and pushed her left hand a little harder on Shino's big and insensitive mouth.

Unable to breathe, Shino desparately pushed Chidori's hand away from his mouth. Fortunately, he succeeded.

"I can keep a secret if only you would be nice to me, you know." Shino said and placed his hands on his waist.

"Shino, I-... Look. Don't ruin my reputation, and mist importantly, my family name because once my dad finds out that his only daughter likes an Uchiha, he'll kill me for sure!" Chidori explained in an overflowing emotion, hoping that Shino would understand how she feels.

"So, you do like him?" Shino asked, confirming, withe a wider smile.

Chidori's cheeks grew pink and she felt her face burn. Feeling embarassed, she looked at the floor again.

"So, it's a deal then?" Chidori said and tried to change the topic.

"There _was _no deal! Do you think it's fair on my part?"Shino protested.

"Okay. What's your price?" Chidori said, with a soft, but angry voice.

Shino smiled and looked at his feet and slipped his hands in both sides of his pant's pockets. He was probably thinking of a good offer to get her humiliated, Chidori assumed. Chidori just stared at him, thinking if he was serious about thing deal or not but hoped that he would be.

"Okay..." Shino finally said and looked up at her again... "I want you to..."

Chidori's heart ran faster and she was breathless waiting for his next words.

"...Make lunch for me every weekdays!" He finally announced.

"WHAT? Make LUNCH!" Chidori repeated a little bit loud.

She couldn't believe her ears. The last time she gave food to him was when they were ten, at their cooking class. She can remember well what it was. A riceball. A simple riceball. She gave him her project, then the next thing she knew, Shino, who was innocently hungry when she gave the riceball, was hospitalized for three days.

"A-Are you sure? Because I-" Chidori said, but Shino interrupted.

"You can do better punishments? I know." Shino said.

It was exactly what she was going to say. Chidori was a bit surprised. But that doesn't matter now.

"Why? Have you forgotten when we were ten?" Chidori asked.

"I do! How can I forget that awful experience?" Shino said and changed his face into a funny one. Funny, but calm, Chidori thought.

"Then-"

"No questions asked." Shino, again, interrupted. He turned and faced the door behind him. "Let's go back. He's waiting."

When Shino said that, Chidori suddenly felt something, she didn't know what. But it left her feeling empty.

Sasuichi was sitting by the counter, watching Chidori's black pig who was sitting at the counter, when Shino and Chidori went out of the room. The shop seemed to have been occupied by teenaged girls who were smiling at Sasuichi, blushing and murmuring at each other while staring at him. Shino went towards Sasuichi.

Sasuichi looked up and stared at Shino. Shino was staring back at him, his eyes were strong and with an emotion Sasuichi wasn't able to understand. But he had a clue on what it was and it made him ask his self if there was something going on. After a few seconds, Chidori came up to them.

"Shino turned around and faced Chidori.

"A deal is a deal, okay?" Shino said a little bit loud, grinning.

_How could he say that knowing Sasuichi is just behind him! _She told her self and imagined how pleasurable it would feel if she could whack him violently on his face, right now.

"Whatever." She replied, not making any eye-contact on both of them and looked at the yellowish flower beside her, instead.

Sasuichi examined Chidori, while she was looking at the flower for a while. If something was going on and Chidori and Shino didn't tell him, maybe it was none of his business. But why was he feeling a little bit weird? Well, whatever it was, he was sure that he didn't like that feeling.

**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

**piki-piki angel: **Thanks for reading again! Have a happy holiday!


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